Wheel.



J. SOSS.

WHEEL.

APPLIUATIGH rum) um, ze, 1907.

Patented Feb 23, 1909.

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WHNESSES k/wmwg TTURNEYS JOSEPH SOSS, OF'NEW YORK, N. Y.

WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 23, 1909.

Appunti@ med mmh 2s, 1907. seria No. 364,631.

To all whom/it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH Sess, a citizen of the United States, and residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVheels, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in.the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to what are known as cushioned Wheels for vehicles, and the object thereof is to provide a Wheel of this class in which the desired cushion effect is secured by the construction of the spokes which consist of separate telescopic parts, the hub of the wheel being supported centrally of the wheel when the latter is not in use but being freely movable radially of the wheel when the latter is inv use, or tlle rim of the wheel being freely movable toward and from the hub in all positions of the Wheel when said wheel is in use, the extent ot such movement being controlled by the 'load on or in the vehicle and the construe tion of the spokes.

My invention as described and claimed herein is limited particularl to the constructio-. of the spokes an any suitable rim and tire may be employed which will permit of the above described operation. ln the accompailyingr drawing, I have shown. an ordinary band rim and band tire and if su Il1 a construction were employed it wouldv )e neccsairy for both the band rim and the band tire to be flexible to a `renter or less extent. v l

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which thc acronipanying drawing' forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in Whicl1;-

Figui-c l is aser-tional side view of a pari of a wheel the spokes ot' which are made according to my invention; Fig. 2 a view similar to Fig. l showing but a single spoke and a part of the tire, showing a modified form of the spoke; and, Fig. 3 a vier' similar to Fig. 2 and showing;l 1 slight modification thereof.

In the drawing forming part of this specification I have shown at a the hub of a wheel and at b the rim thereof on which is placed a tire c, and,y the form of oonstrnetlon shown, the rim and tire consist rim and hub and of ordinary bands and the hub a is of the torni usually employed in Wagons and similar vehicles, but it will be understood that iu making a. wheel according to my invention any forni of hub may be employed.

In the' practice of my invention, as shown .in Figfl, I provide spokes d which consist of telescopic parts d2 and d3, one of which is connected with the rim and the other with the hub, and, in the form of construction shown, the part d2 is connected with the rim and the part d3 with the hub. The part ds is tubular in form throughout itslength, and, in the form of construction shown, the inner end of the part (l2 is tubular in form and said art d2 is provided With'a piston rod e Wit which is connected apiston e2.

,The parts d2 and d3 because of their donstruct-ion as above described form a longitudinal chamber f Within the s oke, and this chamber or that part thereof ormed by the part d of the spoke is provided with a stationary transverse partition g which may be secured therein 1n any desired manner, but which, in the form of construction shown, is secured in said part da of the spoke by means of screws passed through the lat ter and into said partition. The piston rod e passes through the partition g, which is.

provided with a central aperture for this purpose, and said rod is so formed as `to closely fit said aperture and. the partition g divides the clrj-niber f tinto an inner chamber j and an duter chamber f3. The piston c2 is movable in the inner chamber f2 of thc spoke and said inner chamber is provided at its inner end with an air inlet and outlet port /1, and at its outer end 01 adjacentto the partition g with a similar air inlet and outlet port la?, and the part f3 of the cham-Q ber fis provided at its inner end or adjacent to the partition y with an air inlet and outlet port 713. The inner end of the art d of the spoke forms a cylinder in which the piston c2 is movable, and said piston when the wheel is not in usc, or when said Wheel is not loaded, divides said cylinder into two separate chambers, an inner chamber f* and an outer chamber f5. Only one of the spokes shown in Fig. :l 1s shown in section, but it Will be understood that all the spokes of the wheel are constructed in the same manner, and when the wheel is in use the load carried thertb, wil'Lcause the tire and rim to move/radis y of the hub at all times, that part treimd on which the'wheel rests being forced toward the hub, while the l opposite part of the tire or rim will be forced away from the hub. In the inward movement of the piston e the air in the chamber f* is forced out through the port h while air is drawn into the chamber f5 ihrough the port h2 and air is forced out of the chamber f5 through the port h3, and as said piston e2 moves outwardly air passes into the chamber f3 of the chamber f5 through the port h2 and into the chamber f3 throu h the port ha. It will bennderstood that the ports It., vh2 and h3 are so formed as to regulate the passage of air therethrough, and this construction as will be understood, forms a plurality oi air cushions which control the movement of the piston e in both directions and regulates such movement, and a constant spring action is given to the wheel as will be readily understood.

The construction shown in Fig. 2 is the same as that shown in Fig. 1 with the exception that a spiral spring is mounted on the iston rod e in the cham r f and bears on t e partition g and on the outer member d2 of the spoke, and the spring y', as will be understood, forms a supplemental cushion which aids in regulating the movement of.

the part d2 in the part d of the spoke or in other words the movementof' the tread 0rtion of the rim and tire toward and rom the hub of the wheel. i

The construction shown in Fig. 3 is the same as' that shown in Fig. 2, except that the air inlet and outlet port lr, at the inner end of the cylinder in which the piston e2 moves, or at the inner end of the chamber f4, is provided with a valve It* which opens outwardly, and the cylinder or inner end portion of the art d of the s oke is also provided a litt e below the mi dle thereof with another air inlet and outlet port h, and in the operation of this form of construction when the piston e moves in wardl the air is forced out through the port but when said piston moves outwardly no air can enter the port h and a vacuum is thus formed in the -chamber f* or in the inner end of the cylinder which aids in regulatin the outward movement of said iston. ormally, the piston eis suppose to be in the position shown in Fig. 3, when this construction is employed, and when said iston is moved inwardly the port h is close during a part of said movement and the air in the chamber 4 is forced out through the port h. At t e extreme inward movement of the piston air may'pass into the chamber f through the ort It and in the outward movement of sai piston the port h5 will be closed and the' air 1n the chamber f will be forced out through the port h2, but it will be understood that in all these movements of the piston e2 the passage V through the port L out chamber; 1nto separatesblc of air through the various ports L, h2, ha and lz is slow and regular and the movement of the pislpn c* is thus regulated, the air in the various compartments or chambers forming 'cushions which control said movement, and if desired the iston e2 may be provided with an upwar 1y directed rim which will keep the port h5 closed during the entire inward movement of said piston.

In order for a wheel provided with my improved spokes to operate with a contin' uous rim or tire1 as shown in Fig. l, it will be necessary for said rim or tire to be exible. The radial movement ofsaid rim or Lire would, however, be necessarily small and the flexible tire may be made in any desired manner.

Having fully described my invention, what I c aim new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isz

l. A spoke for wheels composed of se arate telescopic members forming a hol ow cylindrical chamber withinsaid spoke, one member of the spoke being rovided with a transverse partition Whi divides said ambers and the other witha piston rod which asses through said partition and fis providedp with a piston movable in one of the sub-chambers, the subchamber in which thea` piston is movable being provided with 'air inlet and outlet ports at its inner and outer ends and the other sub-chamber being also provided with an air inlet and outlet port whereby air cushions are formed in the s olie to regulate the movement of the telescopic parts thereof. y

2.A A spoke for Wheels composed of se arate telescopic members forming a hol ow cylindrical chamber within said spoke, one member of the sp ke being provided with a transverse partition which divides said chamber into separate sub-chambers and the other with a piston rod which asses through said partition and is provide with a piston movable in one of the sub-chambers the sub-chamber in which the iston is movable being provided with air inlet and outlet ports at its inner and outer ends and the other sub-chamber being also provided with an air inlet and outlet port whereby nir cushions are formed in the spoke to regulate the movement of the telescopic parts thereof, and a spiral spring placed in one of the sub-chambers` and serving as a cushion to regulate the movement ols said parts` 3. A spoke for wheels composed of separate telescopicA members whereby a lon itudinal chamber is formed in said spo e, said chamber being divided into separate sub-chambers and one part of the spoke being provided with a piston movable in one of said sub-chambers and all of said subchambers being provided with air ports.

A wheel comprising a hub, a flexible rim und til-v, lfind Spokes" composed of sepa-l plunger in one of said supplemental Chaim rule telescopic parl4 .forming a longitudinal hers und being provided with a rod which 20 piston chzu'nher divided hy u transverse parpasses therethrough and through said partiilition so :is to forni two supplemental Chzunlion, :und is provided with u piston movable hors, ont` pau-t of the spoke operating us a in tho other supplemental rhzmiller, Suid plunger in oury of Asaid su],)ple1nental chunisupplemental uhtunhvrs hiring both provided her` und living provided with u rod which i with ui-A poilu or pzissagos, und a spring' 2V, 'passes thcrvlhrough und through Said purti plm-vd hotwcon `said partition und that. part tion, und is provided with u piston inomhlu of thv spoke with whirl Huid rod is uonin lho other lupplenioniul rhdmher` said iwi-tml. :suppleinvntul chainht-rs livingA hoth provided In testimony that l ulnini the foregoing with air-pork; or puwip'vs. :iw nl y inwntiou l hun: signed my name in tu A wlicl roniprising u huh, a hxihlc prlwmr of tho suhsrribing witnvsscs thia rim and tiro, und .spokes composed of sopa 22th dur o' Mui-vh lSlUT.

rate telescopic paru,` formingIA a longitudinal JOhllll 50H5. i piston chuinhm' divided by a transverse purdinowom tition so as to forni two supplemental chunr- (7. IC. MULREANY, i bers, one part ol' the spokey operating :is a l runnin (ina. 

